Ice can vary considerably from rink to rink. Freezing ice is actually a very exact process. It can be hard, soft, brittle, springy, etc. It definitely can effect your skating because the edges and toe picks don't grab the ice the same way. The rink I used to skate at had soft springy ice and when I had the compete on hard hockey ice, I was losing edges and missing my toe pick all over the place. Elite skaters should have a pretty good ability to adjust but it probably does affect their confidence especially when the pressure is on.

So basically Olympic nerves + tricky jumps (quads/3As) + tricky ice (if that was the case in Sochi, where they had a short track event a couple of hours before men's free skate) could explain why the men's event in general was such a splatfest?

I still cringe when I think of that night, I guess I just need a rational explanation to get some kind of closure, heh. *sigh*
I'm not even a Chan fan, but I just felt awful towards the end of his performance.

So basically Olympic nerves + tricky jumps (quads/3As) + tricky ice (if that was the case in Sochi, where they had a short track event a couple of hours before men's free skate) could explain why the men's event in general was such a splatfest?

I still cringe when I think of that night, I guess I just need a rational explanation to get some kind of closure, heh. *sigh*
I'm not even a Chan fan, but I just felt awful towards the end of his performance.

If Sochi ice were that tricky, then how come Hanyu broke his own world record? I think it's their nerves that failed them mostly. I remember Hanyu and Pchan looked like they were about to faint in the warm up before the free skate. I bet they still have nightmares about that day.